31.11
After
the despatch had been read the senate decreed that the consul C. Aurelius
should order his army to muster at Ariminum on the day which he had
previously fixed for their muster in Etruria. If the state of public affairs
allowed, he was to go in person to suppress the disturbance, otherwise, he
was to send instructions to L. Furius requesting him, as soon as the legions
reached him, to send his 5000 of the allied contingent to replace them in
Etruria, and then raise the siege of Cremona. The senate also decided to send
a mission to Carthage and to Masinissa in Numidia. Their instructions for
Carthage were to inform the government that Hamilcar, one of their citizens
who had come with either Hasdrubal's or Mago's army, had been left behind
and in defiance of the treaty had persuaded the Gauls and Ligurians to take
up arms against Rome. If they wished to remain at peace they must recall
him and surrender him to the Romans. The commissioners were also to
announce that the deserters had not all been given up, a great many of them
were stated to be openly walking about in Carthage; it was the duty of the
authorities to find them out and arrest them in order that they might be
handed over in accordance with the treaty. These were their instructions for
Carthage. To Masinissa they were to convey the senate's congratulations on
his having recovered his ancestral kingdom and still more upon his having
extended it by the annexation of the richest portion of Syphax's dominions.
They were also to inform him that a war had been undertaken against Philip
in consequence of his having lent the Carthaginians active assistance, and
when Italy was wrapped in the flames of war he had inflicted injuries on the
allies of Rome. She was thus compelled to send ships and armies to Greece,
and by thus dividing her forces Philip was primarily the cause of the delay in
sending an expedition to Africa. The commissioners were further to request
Masinissa to assist in that war by sending a contingent of Numidian horse.
Some splendid presents were placed in their charge for the king -gold and
silver vases, a purple robe, a tunica palmata together with an ivory sceptre,
also a toga praetexta together with a curule chair. They were instructed to
assure him that if he required anything for the security and extension of his
kingdom and would intimate what he wanted, the Roman people would do
their utmost to meet his wishes in return for the services he had rendered.
A deputation from Syphax's son, Vermina, also appeared before the
senate. They made excuses for his mistakes on the ground of his youth and
threw all the blame on the faithlessness of the Carthaginians. Masinissa had
once been the enemy and had now become the friend of Rome; Vermina,
too, they said, would make every effort not to be outdone in friendly offices
to Rome either by Masinissa or by any one else. They ended by petitioning
the senate to confer on him the title of "king, ally and friend." The reply
which the deputation received was to the effect that "Syphax, his father, had
suddenly without any reason become an enemy to the people of Rome after
being their ally and friend, and that Vermina himself had commenced his
military education by an attack on the Romans. He must therefore sue for
peace before he could have any title to be styled 'king, ally and friend.' The
Roman people were accustomed to confer that honourable distinction in
return for great services which kings have rendered to them. The Roman
envoys would shortly be in Africa and the senate would empower them to
grant peace to Vermina on certain conditions, providing that he left the
fixing of those conditions absolutely to the Roman people. If he wanted
anything added or cancelled or altered in the terms he must make a fresh
appeal to the senate." The men who were sent to conduct these negotiations
were C. Terentius Varro, Sp. Lucretius and Cn. Octavius; and they had each
a quinquereme placed at their disposal.
